Suzanne Pavlat
Everybody loved Suzie. Although she battled cancer for most of her life, she always wanted to help others. She spent years being treated at the famous St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. and helped with many fundraisers. She appeared in the movie about St. Jude, "A Time to Live." And was the star of the show every summer at the Bruce Rader St. Jude Golf Tournament, and Celebration at the NorVa, where she was the honorary chairman. Grammy Award winning jazz guitarist Robert Cray presented Suzie with an autographed guitar on June 1st at her last public appearance at the NorVa.
Suzie's life was not an easy one. She received almost 50 rounds of chemotherapy. She also received a bone marrow transplant and gene therapy. Twice the disease went into remission. But regardless of how she felt, she was always happy and cheerful. An inspiration to us all.
Many of Suzie's friends joined her parents Jack and Barbara for a beautiful celebration of her life at the Little Creek Amphibious Base Chapel. Actress Marlo Thomas, daughter of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas, flew in from New York to honor her dear friend. Following Ms Thomas, Bruce Rader gave a eulogy.The text is available for your viewing.
